Wall Street · NY Daily WireThe Daily | Released: 2026-10-15 Tab 1 Tab 2 Tab 3 Tab 4 Manufacturing sales $79.9 billion August 2026 1.5% (monthly change) Inventories $127.7 billion August 2026 0.2% (monthly change) Inventory-to-sales ratio 1.60 August 2026 -0 .02 pts (monthly change) Unfilled orders $134.2 billion August 2026 -0 .0% (monthly change) Following a 0.3% decrease in July, total manufacturing sales increased 1.5% to $79.9 billion in August, on increased sales in 12 of the 21 subsectors, led by the primary metal (+14.0%) and chemical (+4.4%) subsectors. The increases were partially offset by a 2.6% decline in transportation equipment sales. On a year-over-year basis, total manufacturing sales were up 14.2% in August.
In constant dollars, total manufacturing sales were unchanged in August, while the Industrial Product Price Index increased 1.3%. Sales in the primary metal subsector lead the increase Sales in the primary metal subsector reached their highest level on record, rising 14.0% to $7.6 billion in August. The gain was driven by higher sales volumes and prices, with sales in constant dollars increasing 9.1%.
Growth was concentrated almost entirely in the non-ferrous metal (excluding aluminum) production and processing industry group. Higher production of non-ferrous metals in 2026 has been supported by stronger global demand for copper, silver, and other non-ferrous metals, driven by electrification, investments in renewable energy, and expanding industrial applications in advanced technologies. On a year-over-year basis, total sales in current dollars in the primary metal subsector increased 27.8% in August.
In the chemical subsector, sales increased 4.4% to $6.2 billion in August, following a 4.4% decline in July. Higher sales of basic chemicals contributed the most to the increase. The gain was largely attributable to higher prices, as sales of chemical products in constant dollars rose 0.4% in August.
The gain coincided with a 12.7% increase in exports of basic chemicals . With the increase in August, current-dollar sales of chemical products were up 16.7% compared with the same month a year earlier. Transportation equipment sales declined 2.6% to $12.0 billion in August, marking the second consecutive monthly decrease.
Within the subsector, motor vehicle sales fell 4.0%, while sales of motor vehicle parts declined 4.2%. The decrease in motor vehicle sales reflected weaker-than-usual seasonal sales activity in August as well as an extended summer shutdown in a major auto assembly plant. In the aerospace product and parts industry group, production decreased 4.8% in August, down to its lowest level since February 2026.
Exports of aircraft, aircraft engines, and aircraft parts also fell sharply, declining 18.3% in August. Chart 1 Manufacturing sales Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador post the largest increases Sales rose in six provinces in August, led by Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador. Sales in Quebec increased 4.0% to $21.0 billion in August, the highest level on record.
The gain was driven by increased sales in 13 of the 21 subsectors, led by the primary metal subsector. Sales of primary metal increased significantly in August, rising 20.1% to $4.0 billion on higher demand and prices. Year over year, total manufacturing sales in Quebec rose 15.1% in August.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, manufacturing sales were up 58.5% to $692 million in August, the highest level since May 2019. The gain in August was driven by an 82.6% increase in sales of non-durable products. With the gain in August, total sales were 125.1% higher than the same month last year.
Total inventories increase Total inventories edged up 0.2% to $127.7 billion in August, continuing the upward trend observed since January 2026. The increase in August was driven by higher goods in process (+0.8%) as inventories of raw materials were unchanged and finished product inventories declined 0.1%. Increased inventories of fabricated metals (+2.8%) and machinery (+1.3%) were largely responsible for the gain in total inventories in the month.
Chart 2 Total inventories increase in August The inventory-to-sales ratio fell from 1.62 in July to 1.60 in August. This ratio measures the time, in months, that would be required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current level. Chart 3 The inventory-to-sales ratio decreases in August Unfilled orders are unchanged Unfilled orders were unchanged at $134.2 billion in August.
Unfilled orders increased the most in the fabricated metal product subsector (+4.3%), while the aerospace product and parts industry group ( -1 .3%) posted the largest decline. Chart 4 Unfilled orders are unchanged in August Capacity utilization rate increase The capacity utilization rate (not seasonally adjusted) for the total manufacturing sector rose from 80.7% in July to 81.9% in August. The increases were most pronounced in the non-metallic mineral (+3.6 percentage points), chemical (+2.7 percentage points), and primary metal (+2.6 percentage points) subsectors.
In contrast, the capacity utilization rate in the petroleum and coal product subsector declined 0.8 percentage points. Chart 5 Capacity utilization rate increases in August Sustainable development goals On January 1, 2016, the world officially began implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development —the United Nations' transformative plan of action that addresses urgent global challenges over the following 15 years. The plan is based on 17 specific sustainable development goals.
The Monthly Survey of Manufacturing is an example of how Statistics Canada supports the reporting on the global sustainable development goals. This release will be used to help measure the following goal: Note to readers Monthly data in this release are seasonally adjusted and are expressed in current dollars, unless otherwise specified. Seasonally adjusted data are data that have been modified to eliminate the effect of seasonal and calendar influences to allow for more meaningful comparisons of economic conditions from period to period.
For more information on seasonal adjustment, see the page Seasonal adjustment: Concepts and interpretation, 2026 . Trend-cycle estimates are included in selected charts as a complement to the seasonally adjusted series. These data represent a smoothed version of the seasonally adjusted time series and provide information on longer-term movements, including changes in direction underlying the series.
For information on trend-cycle data, see the page Trend-cycle estimation: Concepts, interpretation, and calculation, 2026 . Both seasonally adjusted data and trend-cycle estimates are subject to revision as additional observations become available. These revisions could be large and could even lead to a reversal of movement, especially for reference months near the end of the series or during periods of economic disruption.
Non-durable goods industries include food; beverage and tobacco products; textile mills; textile product mills; apparel; leather and allied products; paper; printing and related support activities; petroleum and coal products; chemicals; and plastics and rubber products. Durable goods industries include wood products; non-metallic mineral products; primary metals; fabricated metal products; machinery; computer and electronic products; electrical equipment, appliances and components; transportation equipment; furniture and related products; and miscellaneous manufacturing. Production-based industries For the aerospace and shipbuilding industry groups, the value of production is used instead of the value of sales of goods manufactured.
The value of production is calculated by adjusting monthly sales of goods manufactured by the monthly change in inventories of goods in process and finished products manufactured. The value of production is used because of the extended period of time that it normally takes to manufacture products in these industries. Unfilled orders are a stock of orders that will contribute to future sales, assuming that the orders are not cancelled.
New orders are those received whether sold in the current month or not. New orders are measured as the sum of sales for the current month plus the change in unfilled orders from the previous month to the current month. Manufacturers reporting sales, inventories and unfilled orders in US dollars Some Canadian manufacturers report sales, inventories and unfilled orders in US dollars.
These data are then converted to Canadian dollars as part of the data production cycle. For sales, based on the assumption that they occur throughout the month, the average monthly exchange rate for the reference month established by the Bank of Canada is used for the conversion. The monthly average exchange rate is available in table 33-10-0163-01.
Inventories and unfilled orders are reported at the end of the reference period. For most respondents, the daily average exchange rate on the last working day of the month is used for the conversion of these variables. However, some manufacturers choose to report their data using a day other than the last working day of the month.
In these instances, the daily average exchange rate on the day selected by the respondent is used. Note that because of exchange rate fluctuations, the daily average exchange rate on the day selected by the respondent can differ from both the exchange rate on the last working day of the month and the monthly average exchange rate. Daily average exchange rate data are available in table 33-10-0036-01.
Revision policy Each month, the Monthly Survey of Manufacturing releases preliminary data for the reference month and revised data for the previous three months. Revisions are made to reflect new information provided by respondents and updates to administrative data. Once a year, a revision project is undertaken to revise multiple years of data.
Advance indicator Statistics Canada will provide an advance estimate of sales in the manufacturing sector for September 2026 on October 23. Next release Data from the Monthly Survey of Manufacturing for September 2026 will be released on November 13. Contact information For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136 ; 514-283-8300 ; infostats@statcan.gc.ca ) or Media Relations ( statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca ).
Date modified: 2026-10-15
Source: Statistique Canada
